Here’s something you should know about me: I don’t give up easily. I say I will just let something go, move on to something else, quit while I’m ahead, throw in the towel, but I don’t. Not usually, anyway. What happens is I grumble and complain for a while, go over all the reasons why it’s just not possible for me to do something and how everyone will understand, then I get up and try again.

I do this almost every morning. I used to be a chronic late/absentee person. If you know me know, you may find that hard to believe. I hate being late. The thing is, I wake up most mornings and don’t want to go to work or to the gym. I don’t want to have my dreams of being a writer crushed. I am afraid of failing, of possible rejection, or making the wrong decisions. I don’t see anything wrong with this. It’s perfectly reasonable to feel afraid of letting yourself and others down; what isn’t acceptable to me is letting that stop you from trying.

Despite my rant against the machine that is running, no stupid physical activity is going to beat me back to the bus. I’m going to punch running in the face, as a tee-shirt on one of the running blogs I follow so perfectly summed it up. The fact that it’s been harder for me to get started is only going to make it feel that much better when I succeed at doing it, and doing it well.

What I didn’t tell you was when I bought that cold compress and Harlequin comfort package, I bought a couple of Runner’s World featuring a beginner’s guide. I’ve been looking through the articles and expanding my knowledge bank of running. I’ve been learning about good running form, stride, how to land, shoes, fueling, cross training, etc. I may not have the running shoes or the completely healed feet to run now, but I’m committed to cross training and learning to stretch and warm up properly until I can get back in the running game again.

If you have experienced a little bit of failure recently, it’s OK to mourn over it, but it’s not OK to just throw in the towel because it didn’t work this time. If at all possible, pick yourself up and try again. Tell yourself how good it will feel when you finally do succeed. Learn from past mistakes and don’t make the same mistakes twice. Be tenacious. If you’re like me, tell yourself all the reasons you have for giving up, and feel doubly accomplished when you try again and succeed. Ignite your competitive spirit. Acquire more knowledge to help improve your chances of success. Put up inspirational pictures and sayings. Find someone who believes in your dream and is willing to support you. Whatever gets you to lace up your shoes and get out of the door.